Middle Grade Winter Workshop with Sophia Jimenez
March 31st, 2025 - June 18th, 2025
with Sophia Jimenez
A three-month workshop for writers seeking story-level feedback on their Middle Grade projects to take their work to the next level.
In this workshop, you will work with senior development editor, Sophia Jimenez, and a small group of writers (up to 4 others) on the first 15,000 words of your novels in process, over two rounds. The workshop includes written feedback from Sophia and your peers, live calls to debrief each round, and a group discussion board.
The workshop begins with an introductory group call to meet the other members and discuss workshop expectations. Then you will submit the first 7,500 words of your project for feedback, plus a short synopsis (this is for your readers and will not be critiqued). You have three weeks to read and post your written critiques of participants work. Round 1 critiques are followed by a group debrief call where you can dig into questions about the notes and/or brainstorm with Sophia about revisions. You will then submit your next 7,500 words for peer and professional feedback (either a revision of round 1, or the next section of your book). The group concludes with a second group debrief call.
What to expect from your written critiques: Sophia will provide a detailed critique on your pages addressing character development, plot development, pacing, and sentence-level writing tips to take your pages to the next level. It will not include full line-edits.
*This workshop has a zero tolerance policy against racist, sexist, harassing, or otherwise offensive behavior. Writers who engage in this behavior against the instructor or fellow writers, or present material that promotes this behavior, will be removed from the workshop without a refund.
<p>Writers may register for one MG workshop per season. The Winter season runs from January 1st - April 14th. If spaces are available one month prior to a workshop starting, writers will be able to register for a second workshop.<br></p>
Notes
Who this workshop is for: <p>This workshop welcomes writers working on MG fiction stories. Sophia is excited to read submissions in prose across genres.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Writers are expected to be at an intermediate level of writing craft, or above. Writers may have achieved this through self-study of books and exercises, or organized instruction such as classes, workshops, or webinars. Writers should be familiar with elements of craft such as characterization, plot, internal arc, pacing and voice in order to offer craft-rooted feedback to their peers.<br></p>
Focus: Children's - Middle Grade - Contemporary fiction - Children'…
Group size: 5 writers
Submissions: <p> Round 1: first 7500 words plus a synopsis; Round 2: 7500 words. </p><p><br></p><p><span style="font-weight: 700;">Changes and Withdrawals Policy: </span><br></p><ul><li>2 months or more ahead of a workshop start: you will be credited the full amount of the workshop, less a $15 change fee.</li><li>Under 2 months to 15 days ahead of a workshop start: you will be credited for the full workshop cost less a $15 charge if we are able to replace you. If we can't replace you, you will receive a credit for 50% of the workshop cost.</li><li>Withdrawals within 2 weeks of a workshop start will not be credited even if you are able to be replaced. Your payment will go towards our scholarship program. </li></ul>
Fee
Members: $415; Non-members: $465
About Sophia Jimenez
Sophia Jimenez is a professional editor working with writers of fiction and nonfiction for readers of all ages. Before launching her freelance business, she spent several years in both children’s and adult acquisitions at Simon & Schuster, where she was fortunate to work with many bestselling and award-winning authors. She’s also a former board member of Latinx in Publishing, where she co-founded a mentorship program for Latine writers. You can learn more about her past work and current editorial services at Sophia-Jimenez.com.